The Potomac Region is proud to share that three students from within the Potomac Region will be awarded ASPRS Scholarships at the national level. Congratulations on behalf of the region to each of these recipients. Please keep your eyes peeled for these outstanding students at GeoWeek in March and be sure to extend your congratulations on their achievements.
The 2020 John O. Behrens Institute for Land Information (ILI) Memorial Scholarship is award to Ms. Elizabeth Hanwell. Ms. Hanwell is a senior at West Virginia University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in environmental geoscience. She has demonstrated academic excellence in geospatial engineering technology and related math and science courses.
Ms. Hanwell has pursued four professional work internships that focused on generating, curating, and analyzing geospatial data and plans to explore graduate programs focused on Earth observation applied to hazard mapping and disaster response.
The Ta Liang Memorial Award for 2020 is presented to Mohammad Abdul Qadir Khan. The selection was based on his academic achievements and awards, participation in a diversity of geospatial research projects, technical publications, planned program of research-related travel, and volunteer activities for youth and continuing education programs.
Mr. Khan is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Geospatial Data Science at the University of Delaware. He received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Physical Sciences at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). His research focus is to advance the technology of Machine Learning coupled with satellite imagery and geospatial tools for addressing the global food security crisis and to provide current information of cropping practices and patterns at farm scale.
He is conducting his research in northeastern India, and will be travelling there during Spring/Fall 2020 to conduct field work to obtain information for crops grown in his study area. The field data will be used for image classification and accuracy assessment purposes. His research will advance our understanding of shifting cultivation patterns and cycles in the region based on biophysical factors and population dynamics in the region. Mohammed Abdul Qadir Khan is a truly deserving recipient of the 2020 Ta Liang Memorial Award.
The 2020 Paul R. Wolf Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Lee Ann Nolan. Ms. Nolan is receiving this award in recognition of her outstanding academic credentials and her plans and enthusiasm to become an education professional in Surveying, Mapping, and Photogrammetry and related fields. Lee Ann is currently a Doctoral candidate (planned graduation August 2020) in Geography at the University of West Virginia-Morgantown.
Lee Ann Nolan has demonstrated a continued interest, dedication, enthusiasm, passion, and aptitude to become an education professional and has been recognized at all levels. Lee Ann’s career goal is to become a tenured teaching/research faculty member at a university, wishing to grow her skill set and continually learn with special interest in the area of UAV’s and drones.
Awards for Outstanding Papers, Professional Achievement, and Service activities are determined by committee selection; scholarships and academic awards are also determined by committee selection but are chosen from among current applications. For details on the application process, see the ASPRS website.
